A Review of Emsisoft Free Emergency Kit

[Windows Only] Emsisoft isn’t a big name in the anti-virus, anti-malware industry, but they are well respected and they’ve been offering great products since 2003. When I first ran into them, they were offering one of the best anti-trojan scanners, named A-Squared. Recently, they’ve come out with a new bundle of anti-malware called Emsisoft Emergency Kit, and it’s completely free.

The first feature of this software kit that I liked, was the fact that it’s also portable. This means that the files making up this bundle can be copied to a CD or a USB flash drive, so that it can be used easily on any PC. All you have to do is download the Zip file and extract it to any drive you want. Below is a screen shot of the files included in this package.

To start up Emergency Kit, simply double click the start.exefile. This launches a selection screen and you can choose one of the four main programs included in the kit.

Below is a list of the programs in the kit and a brief description for each.

This scanner contains the same functionality as the Emergency Kit Scanner but without a graphical user interface. The commandline tool is made for professional users and can be used perfectly for batch jobs.

â€¢ Emsisoft HiJackFree

HiJackFree helps advanced users to detect and remove Malware manually. With HiJackFree you can manage all active processes, services, drivers, autoruns, open ports, hosts file entries and many more. It’s a tool very similar to the old and much revered HiJackThis, except that it offers more information and the ability to consult an online analysis tool for advice.

â€¢ Emsisoft BlitzBlank

BlitzBlank is a tool for experienced users. BlitzBlank deletes files, Registry entries and drivers at boot time before Windows and all other programs are loaded.

I tried out Emsisoft Emergency Kit briefly and I was not disappointed. Even though most of the tools in this kit are for experienced users, the Scanner alone can help almost anyone. It’s not a small download, but it’s portable and most importantly, it’s free. I give it a big thumbs up.

Hey Clif, I always enjoy and benefit from your reviews but was wondering how good is Emisoft Free Emergency Kit (A-Squared) compared to the others such as Malwarebytes, or Windows Defender or even SUPERAntispyware. What would you consider the top 3 (free) contenders to be? Thanks

Hi Rick – it’s nice to hear from you. The A2 Emergency kit isn’t something I would use on a daily basis like Defender. By the way, forget Defender – get Microsoft Security Essentials. If I had a PC that was infected, I would first try MalwareBytes, then I’d follow up with a full scan with A2 Emergency kit, then if there were still problems, I’d use some of the other tools in the Emergency kit. SuperAS is fine, but I’ve never given it much of a trial.

Ahhh, I see that I didn’t answer the last question, but I don’t want to tell everyone that I even have a top 3 list, because I really don’t. The Emergency Kit is only for emergencies. You’ll only need it after your other defenses have failed. The same goes for MalwareBytes. Just make sure you have good protection in place and use common sense. Use a good firewall and AV program. Any of the highest rated at Gizmo’s (http://www.techsupportalert.com/) will work for you. Your best protection is your ability to stay away from bad sites and not to click bad links in email or social sites.